How To Concentrate Like a Roman

There is so much on our plate. We have emails to respond to. Calls to make. There is that meeting in a couple hours. The folks we met with yesterday are waiting on an answer or a decision we promised we’d make. Twitter beckons. So do our hopes and dreams. And yet as many directions as we find ourselves pulled in, it’s safe to assume that Marcus Aurelius was under even more tension. Make no mistake: The ancient world was not some quiet, peaceful place. It too was filled with crises and distractions, gossip, and ambitious goal-setting. All the temptations we face today have their analogs in the past—plus things were scarier, deadlier, and more precarious. So we should listen to the command that Marcus gave himself after one of those trying days, when he was struggling to stay focused. “Concentrate every minute like a Roman— like a man—” he wrote, “on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice.”And he wasn’t just chiding himself to do some impossible thing. There was a method to this concentration, he said. What was it? Do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life. (That’s the power of Memento Mori). The key, Marcus said, was to not let your emotions override your mind and to give yourself a strong purpose (aimlessness is an enabler of distraction). You can do that. You have the power to concentrate like a Roman. You can know how to do this thing in front of you. You can treat it right. And most important, you should. Because it may well be the last thing you do in your life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com.

• 0:28Ryan Holiday?

  How to Concentrate Like a Roman There is so much on our plate. We have emails to respond to, calls to make. There is a meeting in a couple hours. The folks we met with yesterday are waiting on an answer, or a decision we promised we'd make. Twitter beckons, so do our hopes and dreams. And yet, as so many directions as we find ourselves pulled in, it's safe to assume that Marcus Aurelius was under even more tension. Make no mistake, the ancient world was not some quiet, peaceful place. It too was filled with crises and distractions, gossip and ambitious goal-setting. All the temptations we face today have their analogues in the past, plus

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  things were scary, deadlier, and more precarious. So we should listen to the command that Marcus gave himself after one of those trying days, when he was struggling to stay focused. He said, "Concentrate every minute like a Roman, like a man, on doing what's in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice." And he wasn't just trining himself to do some impossible thing. There was a method to this concentration, he said. What was that? It was do everything as if it was the last thing you were doing in your life. That's the power of momentum worry. The key, Marcus said, was to not let

• 1:56Ryan Holiday?

  your emotions override your mind and to give yourself a strong purpose. For aimlessness is an enabler of distraction. You can do that. You have the power to concentrate like a Roman. You know how to do this thing in front of you. You can treat it right. And most important, you should, because it may well be the last thing you ever do in your life. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. And if you don't get the Daily Stoic email, go to dailystoic.com/email.